According to Fox News, the 68-year-old star’s movie ‘Honest Thief’ shot to the top of the box office in October amid a slew of theatre closures that prompted several movie studios to postpone their major blockbuster releases until at least 2021, and now, the action thriller ‘The Marksman,’ has also reached the top of the charts.

According to Variety, the film debuted at No. 1 with USD 3.2 million in ticket sales and is expected to close out the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend with USD 3.7 million across 1,975 locations. That means it’s a likely contender to finally unseat ‘Wonder Woman: 1984’ in its third week in theatres.

As reported by Fox News, the Gal Gadot-led superhero movie surprised everyone by performing well at the box office in December despite also releasing for free to HBO Max subscribers in a bid to cultivate viewership at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has made going to the theatre a difficult prospect for most Americans.

However, as Variety notes, alongside films like ‘Wonder Woman: 1984,’ ‘Honest Thief’ and Robert De Niro’s ‘The War With Grandpa,’ ‘The Marksman’ joins the club of lowest-grossing box office toppers in modern history thanks to only 65 percent of theatres in the U.S. being open for business.

Currently, ‘Wonder Woman: 1984’ is in a bit of a race for a second during the holiday weekend with ‘The Croods: A New Age’ edging close to its expected total of USD 2.6 million. Meanwhile, ‘News of the World’ with Tom Hanks is likely to finish fourth.

Fox News reports that ‘The Marksman’ sees Neeson playing an Arizona rancher who becomes the unlikely protector of a young Mexican boy who is being pursued by a cartel to assasinate him.

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In the factsheet, US claims to have evidence that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick in autumn of 2019, before the first identified case of the coronavirus outbreak, with symptoms consistent with the both COVID-19 and common seasonal illness. US maintain its claims that the virus may have escaped the controversial Wuhan lab.

According to the factsheet , the department says that the virus could have emerged from human contact with infected animals or through a laboratory accident. The report says, “Scientists in China have researched animal-derived coronaviruses under conditions that increased the risk for accidental and potentially unwitting exposure”.

US released the fact sheets as 13 international experts of the World Health Organisation (WHO) arrived in China to probe the origin of the coronavirus.

Major claims

The fact sheet highlights three major elements about the COVID-19 virus- illness inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology(WIV), Research at the WIV and Secret military activity at WIV.

The factsheet claim that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in 2019 before the first outbreak was reported. This raises the questions about the credibility of WIV senior researcher Shi Zhengli’s public claim that there was “zero infection”among the WIV’s staff and students of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses, the report says. It also mentioned about how accidental infections in Chinese labs have contributed to previous virus outbreak.

The US also claimed the involvement of Chinese military in secret military experiments in Wuhan lab since 2017.The report says, “The WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017″. It added, “The United States and other donors who funded or collaborated on civilian research at the WIV have a right and obligation to determine whether any of our research funding was diverted to secret Chinese military projects at the WIV”.

The US asserted that the WHO investigators must have access to the records of the WIV’s work on bat and other coronaviruses before the coronavirus outbreak.

“As part of a thorough inquiry, they must have a full accounting of why the WIV altered and then removed online records of its work with RaTG13 and other viruses,” the US fact sheet said.

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Airlines will have to ensure the availability of a coronavirus negative test report before allowing the passengers to board the flight. All the passengers arriving from the UK would be mandatorily subjected to self-paid RT-PCR tests on their arrival at the Indian airports, the government stated in the SOPs.

The SOPs shall be valid till January 30 (23:59 hrs) or further orders whichever is earlier. All international travellers as described in the scope above will be required to declare as per existing procedure, their travel history (of past 14 days) and fill up the Self Declaration Form to be screened for coronavirus.

All the passengers coming from the UK during the intervening period from January 8 to January 30 would be required to submit a self-declaration form on the online portal(newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before the scheduled travel.

All the passengers arriving from the UK would have to submit a negative RT-PCR test report
for which test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey.

The airlines have been directed to ensure the availability of negative test report before allowing the passengers to board the flights.

“All the passengers arriving from the UK in all international flights would be mandatorily subjected to self-paid RT-PCR tests on arrival at the Indian airports concerned,” the government stated in the SOPs. The Centre has also directed the states and UTs to set up help desks at airports to facilitate the implementation of the procedure.

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Now South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has ordered at least two people executed, banned fishing at sea and locked down the capital, Pyongyang, as part of extreme efforts to guard against the coronavirus and its economic damage. This comes after the South Korean lawmakers attended a private meeting by the spy agency National Intelligence Service(NIS) .

The agency further stated that Kim Jong-Un-led government has also directed the diplomats overseas to avoid doing anything that could provoke the United States as the supreme leader is worried about President-elect Joe Biden’s approach towards North Korea.

One of the lawmakers, Ha Tae-Kung, further added that according to NIS Kim is displaying “excessive anger” and taking “irrational measures” over the pandemic and its economic impact.

A high-profile money changer from Pyongyang was executed in North Korea last month after being held responsible for a slight decrease in exchange rate. Further, a key official was also executed in August for reportedly violating government rules that restrict goods brought from abroad.

North Korean also banned fishing and salt production at sea to prevent sea water from being infected with the virus. However, there is no information about whether the ban applied to all North Korean waters or whether it was still in effect.

NIS also said that North Korea also made a hacking attempt on at least one South Korean pharmaceutical company that was trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine, though it was unsuccessful.

Recently,North Korea imposed lockdown in Pyongang and Northern Jagang province in November. The COVID-19 lockdown was further extended to several areas of North Korea where unauthorised goods and foreign currencies were found.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in January , North Korea was forced to seal the border with its major trading partners and aid benefactor, China. North Korea and China’s trade has dropped drastically as compared to 2019 as it has totalled to about $530 million which just 25% of last years figures. A lawmaker also quoted the NIS saying that the sugar and seasoning price in North Korea has shot up four times.

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Now, the total cases in the country stands at 93,92,920.

With 496 deaths in a day, the toll has mounted to 1,36,696. The country has 4,53,956 active cases of coronavirus, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.

In the past 24 hours, 42,298 patients were discharged across the country, taking the total recovered patients to 88,02,267.

The total number of samples tested up to Saturday stood at 13,95,03,803, including 12,83,449 samples tested yesterday itself, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Sunday.

The ICMR has also approved a “simple and fast method for Covid-19 testing, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said on Saturday. This method can not only increase the number of RT-PCR tests, but can also bring down costs, the CSIR said.

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla said that the Pune-based pharma company is in the process of applying for emergency use authorisation of ‘Covishield’ in the next two weeks.

‘Covishield’ is the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca in affiliation with the SII.

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Jude Law says while shooting Contagion, scientific experts working with the production warned that a similar pandemic to that in the film was coming.

The ace actor revealed this while talking to GQ magazine. The actor discussed the 2011 thriller and what he was foretold would happen years before the novel coronavirus pandemics hit the world.

“There was absolutely the sense that this was going to happen,” Law said. “The great scientists on set with us who had worked with Scott [Z. Burns] the writer and [director] Steven [Soderbergh] were very learned and experienced individuals who knew what to expect. And they all said to us that this was going to happen — and it was a case of when rather than if.”

He said, “The way they described it, which is exactly as it has happened, just made sense. What’s scary is you learn in a set like that because you’re being advised by experts, but it doesn’t necessarily sit.”

Law played Alan Krumwiede in the star-studded pandemic thriller.

The actor explained that he was terrified after making the film, but after a while, his fear subsided. “When 2020 started, and we heard about what was initially happening in China, what fast became apparent around the world, it rang alarm bells,” he said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t hugely surprised.”

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While on the face of it appeared the Olympic silver medalist was retiring from the sport, her post, which included a series of text slides, went on to say she was retiring from this “current state of unrest”, “negativity” and “complete lack of control over the unknown” in reference to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She went click-bait to draw attention to send across an important message.

🙏 pic.twitter.com/W7uw2IvF4S

— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) November 2, 2020

In the three-page note, Sindhu said the pandemic had been an “eye-opener” that left her wondering “how do I defeat this invisible virus that has the entire world in a fix”.

Towards the end of her post, she admitted that her message have given people a mini-heart attack, but added that “unprecedented times required unprecedented measures”.

Along with netizens, India’s sports minister Kiren Rijiju also reacted to Sindhu’s ‘retirement post’. Kiren Rijiju retweeted Sindhu’s ‘I retire’ post.

You actually gave a mini shock @Pvsindhu1 but I had unflinching faith in your power of determination. I'm sure you have the strength and stamina to bring many more laurels for India 🇮🇳! https://t.co/D4VIT7Poyv

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) November 2, 2020

PV Sindhu who was gearing up to play the Thomas and Uber Cup in Denmark before it was called off, pulled out of last month’s Denmark Open.

She is training hard for the Asian leg of the Badminton World Federation Tour (BWF) tour, which will kickstart with two Super 1000 tournaments and the BWF Tour Final in Thailand in January 2021.

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The move has been seen as the President’s disregard to basic precautions to contain the virus that has killed more than 2,09,000 Americans.

Yet, Trump thought it was okay to step out of the hospital in an enclosed SUV with around two people with him which can put members of the Secret Services at risk unnecessarily.

Hours earlier, Trump’s medical team reported that his blood oxygen level dropped suddenly twice in recent days and that they gave him a steroid typically only recommended for the critical patients.
The doctors also said Trump’s health is improving and that he could be discharged as early as Monday. Yet new disclosures about his treatment raise concern that his condition is more serious than what the American public has been told.

In a video released on Twitter around the same time, Trump said he’s “learned a lot” about the coronavirus while undergoing treatment. “This is the real school,” he said. “And I get it. And I understand it.” His outing, he said, was meant to “pay a little surprise” to his supporters.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Trump has downplayed the risks of the virus. Despite World Health Organisation and Center of Diseases Control repeatedly issues warnings on the prevention, Trump ignored it all and even mocked the use of mask. The first time Trump was spotted wearing a mask in public was in July when the pandemic had already affected 3.2 million Americans.

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The traders and importers who had placed their orders in November and December last year are yet to receive a chunk of their consignments. The unprecedented delay in delivery is due to the shutting down of Chinese borders in January and February, followed by the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in India which lasted for about two months beginning March 25.

However, Khandelwal said that traders have not placed fresh orders with China for these items since March.

India’s imports from China during the April- August period of the current financial year stood at $21.58 billion. This is as 27.63 percent drop compared to the previous year.

India’s decision to reduce imports from China, especially cheap electronic and electrical items including mobile phones, home appliances, gifts and toys- will be a big blow to China. India has initiated talks with Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea besides boosting its own production through Atma Nirbhar.

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Think positive, experts say, for healthy mind and body especially during the times of COVID-19.

So let me think positive. First, corona is a gentleman’s disease. It is not hideous like small pox or deadly like plague. People of my generation who were stricken by smallpox still bear the pockmarks on their face. As for plague, people who had it were sure to die; so many died so quickly that there was no place to bury them and bodies were heaped in city roadsides in medieval Europe.

The death rate of corona is only three percent of the patients in India. The Prime Minister aims to reduce it to one percent. And it is not a difficult proposition. Majority of the Indians, particularly the rural population, have immense immunity. Those who grew up drinking the polluted water of Yamuna and Ganga cannot be easily overpowered by an epidemic.

Coronavirus kills more the pizza-eating and wine guzzling fat Italians than undernourished lean Indians. Yes, corona is socialist and secularist. It attacks the rich and poor alike. And it doesn’t differentiate on the basis of religion, caste, colour and gender. It is a true stickler to the Indian Constitution. And like cancer, it can’t be cured with your vast money as no cure is discovered yet. Most patients are not killed by corona but by other diseases the person has already been suffering from. Of course, the old becomes easy victim. But it is biologically correct. Why should one live simply to make a record?

Therefore, thinking positive is good for a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Be positive…Except while you are being tested for corona. Then hope and pray to be negative!

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While hearing a petition seeking a direction for waiver of interest on the loan repayment during the moratorium period, the Apex Court observed that the government is hiding behind the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and why it has still not filed its reply.

“You cannot be interested only in business and not about sufferings of people,” said a bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and fixed the matter for further hearing on September 1.

The Apex Court observed that the matter has been hanging for a long time.
“The problem has been created by your (Centre’s) lockdown. This is also not the time to consider about the business. The plight of people has to be considered also,” the bench said.

A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to all the banks to extend the moratorium period till December 31 to ensure helping the borrowers in deferring their EMI payment on term loans.

In June, the Supreme Court pulled up the Central government and asked it to step up and take a stand over the issue related to charging interest on EMIs during the six month moratorium period granted in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

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